Molecular phylogeny of three ambiguous ciliate genera: Kentrophoros,Trachelolophos and Trachelotractus (Alveolata,Ciliophora)

Gao, S., Strüder‐Kypke, M.C., Al‐Rasheid, K.A.S., Lin, X. & Song, W. (2010). Molecular phylogeny of three ambiguous ciliate genera: Kentrophoros, Trachelolophos and Trachelotractus (Alveolata, Ciliophora).—Zoologica Scripta, 39, 305–313. Very few molecular studies on the phylogeny of the karyorelictean ciliates have been carried out because data of this highly ambiguous group are extremely scarce. In the present study, we sequenced the small subunit ribosomal RNA genes of three morphospecies representing two karyorelictean genera, Kentrophoros, Trachelolophos, and one haptorid, Trachelotractus, isolated from the South and East China Seas. The phylogenetic trees constructed using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and neighbor‐joining methods yielded essentially similar topologies. The class Karyorelictea is depicted as a monophyletic clade, closely related to the class Heterotrichea. The generic concept of the family Trachelocercidae is confirmed by the clustering of Trachelolophos and Tracheloraphis with high bootstrap support; nevertheless, the order Loxodida is paraphyletic. The transfer of the morphotype Trachelocerca entzi Kahl, 1927 to the class Litostomatea and into the new haptorid genus Trachelotractus, as suggested by previous researchers based on morphological studies, is consistently supported by our molecular analyses. In addition, the poorly known species Parduczia orbis occupies a well‐supported position basal to the Geleia clade, justifying the separation of these genera from one another.     

Comparison of Fabrication Methods Based on Nanoimprinting Lithography for Plasmonic Color Filter Fabrication

The angle-variable tunable optical filter was strictly fabricated by two strategies of nanoimprint-coupled metal nanopatterning with improved cost-effectiveness and accessibility. The tunable optical properties and the performances of two strategies were experimentally examined and turned out to be well matched to numerical results. Tunable properties are obtained by three factors: size of fabricated Ag nanodisks, incident illumination angle, and fabrication strategies. The resonant extinction peak shifts were identified to show a large increase along with the increase in fabricated Ag disk size and increase in the incidence angle of illumination. When comparing a fabrication strategy, it was confirmed that the sample fabricated by the strip-off method has better stability on color changes with a consistent dependency on the incident angle. The presented strategies of fabrication are technically viable for obtaining well-defined plasmonic nanostructures so that it has the feasibility to apply for fascinating optical applications including display or tunable optical filters.

     

In Vitro Effects of Ginseng and the Seed of Zizyphus jujuba var. spinosa on Gut Microbiota of Rats with Spleen Deficiency

Ginseng and the seed of Zizyphus jujuba var. spinosa, which are traditional Chinese medicinal materials, were often used in ancient Chinese recipes as a pair of medicines. They can replenish the primordial qi and tonify the spleen. This study investigated the effects of ginseng and the seed of Zizyphus jujuba var. spinosa (GS) extract on gut microbiota diversity in rats with spleen deficiency syndrome (SDS). A total of 52 compounds (including 16 flavonoids, 35 saponins, and 1 alkaloid) were identified and analyzed from the GS extract by UPLC‐Q‐Orbitrap‐MS/MS. The GS extract significantly increased the relative abundance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in rats with SDS but decreased that of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria. At the genus level, the GS extract significantly increased the relative abundance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium in rats with SDS but decreased that of Streptococcus, Escherichia‐Shigella, Veillonella, and Enterococcus. In addition, the GS extract influenced glucose and amino acid metabolism. In summary, the results showed that the GS extract changed the structure and diversity of gut microbiota in rats with SDS and balanced the metabolic process.     

High‐Efficiency CsPbI2Br Perovskite Solar Cells with Dopant‐Free Poly(3‐hexylthiophene) Hole Transporting Layers

CsPbI₂Br is emerging as a promising all‐inorganic material for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to its more stable lattice structure and moisture resistance compared to CsPbI₃, although its device performance is still much behind this counterpart. Herein, a preannealing process is developed and systematically investigated to achieve high‐quality CsPbI₂Br films by regulating the nucleation and crystallization of perovskite. The preannealing temperature and time are specifically optimized for a dopant‐free poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT)‐based device to target dopant‐induced drastic performance degradation for spiro‐OMeTAD‐based devices. The resulting P3HT‐based device exhibits comparable power conversion efficiency (PCE) to spiro‐OMeTAD‐based devices but much enhanced ambient stability with over 95% PCE after 1300 h. A diphenylamine derivative is introduced as a buffer layer to improve the energy‐level mismatch between CsPbI₂Br and P3HT. A record‐high PCE of 15.50% for dopant‐free P3HT‐based CsPbI₂Br PSCs is achieved by alleviating the open‐circuit voltage loss with the buffer layer. These results demonstrate that the preannealing processing together with a suitable buffer layer are applicable strategies for developing dopant‐free P3HT PSCs with high efficiency and stability.     

Double the Capacity of Manganese Spinel for Lithium‐Ion Storage by Suppression of Cooperative Jahn–Teller Distortion

The relatively low capacity and capacity fade of spinel LiMn₂O₄ (LMO) limit its application as a cathode material for lithium‐ion batteries. Extending the potential window of LMO below 3 V to access double capacity would be fantastic but hard to be realized, as it will lead to fast capacity loss due to the serious Jahn–Teller distortion. Here using experiments combined with extensive ab initio calculations, it is proved that there is a cooperative effect among individual Jahn–Teller distortions of Mn³⁺O₆ octahedrons in LMO, named as cooperative Jahn–Teller distortion (CJTD) in the text, which is the difficulty to access the capacity beyond one lithium intercalation. It is further proposed that the cationic disordering (excess Li at Mn sites and Li/Mn exchange) can intrinsically suppress the CJTD of Mn³⁺O₆ octahedrons. The cationic disordering can break the symmetry of Mn³⁺ arrangements to disrupt the correlation of distortions arising from individual JT centers and prevent the Mn³⁺? O bonds distorting along one direction. Interestingly, with the suppressed CJTD, the original octahedral vacancies in spinel LMO are activated and can serve as extra Li‐ion storage sites to access the double capacity with good reversible cycling stability in microsized LMO.     

Soil and root nutrient chemistry structure root-associated fungal assemblages in temperate forests

Root-associated fungi (RAF) link nutrient fluxes between soil and roots and thus play important roles in ecosystem functioning. To enhance our understanding of the factors that control RAF, we fitted statistical models to explain variation in RAF community structure using data from 150 temperate forest sites covering a broad range of environmental conditions and chemical root traits. We found that variation in RAF communities was related to both root traits (e.g., cations, carbohydrates, NO₃⁻) and soil properties (pH, cations, moisture, C/N). The identified drivers were the combined result of distinct response patterns of fungal taxa (determined at the rank of orders) to biotic and abiotic factors. Our results support that RAF community variation is related to evolutionary adaptedness of fungal lineages and consequently, drivers of RAF communities are context-dependent.     

Rice stripe virus coat protein induces the accumulation of jasmonic acid,activating plant defence against the virus while also attracting its vector to feed

The jasmonic acid (JA) pathway plays crucial roles in plant defence against pathogens and herbivores. Rice stripe virus (RSV) is the type member of the genus Tenuivirus. It is transmitted by the small brown planthopper (SBPH) and causes damaging epidemics in East Asia. The role(s) that JA may play in the tripartite interaction against RSV, its host, and vector are poorly understood. Here, we found that the JA pathway was induced by RSV infection and played a defence role against RSV. The coat protein (CP) was the major viral component responsible for inducing the JA pathway. Methyl jasmonate treatment attracted SBPHs to feed on rice plants while a JA-deficient mutant was less attractive than wild-type rice. SBPHs showed an obvious preference for feeding on transgenic rice lines expressing RSV CP. Our results demonstrate that CP is an inducer of the JA pathway that activates plant defence against RSV while also attracting SBPHs to feed and benefitting viral transmission. This is the first report of the function of JA in the tripartite interaction between RSV, its host, and its vector.     

Ultrasensitive Deep-Ultraviolet Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors Using Aluminum-Graphene Metasurface: a Theoretical Insight

Plasmonics - This study investigates a versatile deep-ultraviolet (DUV) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor by integrating a few graphene layers into low-cost aluminum (Al) thin film. The...     

浙江省葡萄属野生葡萄资源调查与开发利用研究

浙江是中国野生葡萄属资源分布较广泛、种类较多的地区之一,但对野生葡萄属资源的深入研究和合理开发利用不多。我们在野外调查和民间走访的基础上,结合查询文献资料,分析浙江境内野生葡萄资源的特点,并提出野生葡萄资源创新利用的思路。